Chipata | |
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Chipata | |
Coordinates: 13°38′43″S32°38′47″E / 13.64528°S 32.64639°E | |
Country | Zambia |
Province | Eastern Province |
District | Chipata District |
Founded | 1898 |
City status | 2017 |
Government | |
• Type | Local Government |
• Mayor | George Mwanza |
Area | |
• Urban | 59.44 sq mi (153.94 km2) |
Elevation | 3,875 ft (1,181 m) |
Population (2022) | |
• City | 327,059 |
• Density | 501/sq mi (193.4/km2) |
• Urban | 193,288 |
• Metro | 327,059 |
Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
Area code | +260 216 |
Climate | Aw |
Chipata is a city and administrative centre of the Eastern Province of Zambia and Chipata District. It was declared the 5th city of the country, after Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone, by President Edgar Lungu on 24 February 2017. The city has undergone rapid economic and infrastructure growth in the years, leading up to city status. [1] [2] [3]
Chipata is located on the Great East Road, approximately 570 kilometres (354 mi) east of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. [4] This is about 150 kilometres (93 mi) west of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. [5] The geographical coordinates of Chipata are 13°38′43.0″S, 32°38′47.0″E. [6] The average elevation of Chipata is 1,181 metres (3,875 ft), above sea level. [7]
Having a modern market, a central hospital, shopping malls, a university, some colleges and a number of schools, Chipata is the business and administrative hub of the region. The town boasts a four star hotel, a golf course, an airport, and a "welcome arch". Developed areas includes Kalongwezi, Moth, and Little Bombay.
Chipata is the regional head of the Ngoni of Zambia. The Ngoni adopted the languages of the tribes they conquered, so Chewa and Nsenga are the principal languages, although Tumbuka and English are widely spoken, plus some Indian languages, as a large number of Zambian Indians live in the town. It is located near the border with Malawi, and lies on the Great East Road which connects the capitals Lilongwe 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the east, [5] and Lusaka 570 kilometres (354 mi) to the west. [6] It is a popular access point for the South Luangwa National Park, which is 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the north-west.
Chipata's name comes from the Chewa word "Chimpata" meaning "large space", in reference to the town's situation in a shallow valley between hills. The name of the central neighbourhood of Kapata, the original centre of town, comes from the Chewa word meaning "small space."
Chipata was formerly known as Fort Jameson (and informally as "Fort Jimmy"), being named after Sir Leander Starr Jameson, the 19th-century British politician and adventurer. Even during the colonial period, few supported that Jameson, who is mainly known for his part in the infamous Jameson Raid, fully deserved the honour of having any town named after him. Like 'Fort Manning' and 'Fort Rosebery', Fort Jameson was called a "fort" because the local government offices, or "Boma", were once fortified.
Fort Jameson was the capital of the British protectorate of North-Eastern Rhodesia between 1900 and 1911.
During World War II, 80 Polish refugees escaping from German- and Soviet-occupied Poland, were admitted in Fort Jameson in 1941. [8]
The mayor of the city of Chipata is the head of the city government.
With a population of about 327,059 in 2022, [9] the Chipata District is believed to be the 8th largest city of the country. The city of Chipata had 193,288 inhabitants in 2022. [10] The predominant ethnic groups in the city are the Chewa, Tumbuka, Ngoni and Nsenga. [11]
Chipata is the primary transport hub for trade between Zambia and Malawi. "Down Shops" is Chipata's bustling down-town area, most shops and other businesses having proprietors of Indian origin. Two notable shops are Kavulamungu Bargain Centre, and Ally & Sons.
The Nc'wala ceremony of the Ngoni people takes place at Mutenguleni on the outskirts of Chipata. The ceremony celebrates the first fruits harvest and is usually held at the end of February. [1]
An extension of the Sena railway, connecting the city of Chipata to the territory of Malawi (via Mchinji) was opened in August 2011. [12] Since then, Chipata acts as the Zambian railhead and entry point from Malawi and beyond. In the pipeline since 1982, the short link, about 35 kilometres (22 mi), provides a through-route for rail traffic from Zambia via Malawi to the Indian Ocean deep-water port at Nacala in Mozambique. [13] The route and alignment of the line has been laid out, including the site of Chipata station and the basic station building. [14]
The route provides an alternative to two existing rail routes to the Indian Ocean, at Dar es Salaam and Beira. In 2015 it was proposed to build a rail link from Chipata through Petauke to Serenje, a town on the TAZARA Railway line. [15]
The T4 road (Great East Road) connects Chipata with Lusaka to the west (570 kilometres away) and the Mwami border with Malawi to the east (20 kilometres away). [16]
The M12 road connects Chipata with Lundazi to the north (180 kilometres away). [16] The D104 road connects Chipata with its airport (12 kilometers away) as well as to Mfuwe and the South Luangwa National Park to the north-west (100 kilometres away). [16] The D128 road connects Chipata with Chadiza to the south-west (65 kilometres away). [16] The D804 road connects Chipata with Vubwi to the south-east (60 kilometres away). [16]
Chipata has four major streams pouring into the Luangwa river. The Luangwa river rises in the Lilonda and Mafinga Hills in north-east Zambia at an elevation of around 1500 meters near the border with Tanzania and Malawi, and flows in a southwesterly direction through a broad valley. [17] The water from the streams and the Luangwa river is used for farming by the inhabitants around the district.
There are three main soil types: acrisols, fersiallitic soils, and lithosols. There are four vegetation types, the main one being the brachystegia (miombo) woodland and munga vegetation types.
Chipata features a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw) [18] with wet and dry seasons. Summers are characterized by warm to hot temperatures, reaching peak values in October and November. Winters are milder, with July being the coolest month. The wet season, from November to March, experiences high humidity and significant rainfall. The dry season, from May to October, is marked by minimal precipitation. [19]
Climate data for Chipata (Msekera Research Station) (1991–2020, extremes 1961–2020) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 36.1 (97.0) | 39.2 (102.6) | 34.0 (93.2) | 35.3 (95.5) | 33.2 (91.8) | 32.2 (90.0) | 32.2 (90.0) | 34.9 (94.8) | 39.4 (102.9) | 40.0 (104.0) | 39.5 (103.1) | 39.0 (102.2) | 40.0 (104.0) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.5 (83.3) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 28.4 (83.1) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.6 (79.9) | 28.8 (83.8) | 32.1 (89.8) | 33.5 (92.3) | 33.4 (92.1) | 30.2 (86.4) | 29.6 (85.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.6 (74.5) | 22.8 (73.0) | 21.3 (70.3) | 19.6 (67.3) | 18.9 (66.0) | 21.1 (70.0) | 24.4 (75.9) | 26.4 (79.5) | 26.8 (80.2) | 24.7 (76.5) | 23.1 (73.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.6 (65.5) | 18.2 (64.8) | 16.6 (61.9) | 14.2 (57.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 11.2 (52.2) | 13.4 (56.1) | 16.7 (62.1) | 19.3 (66.7) | 20.2 (68.4) | 19.2 (66.6) | 16.6 (61.9) |
Record low °C (°F) | 12.8 (55.0) | 13.2 (55.8) | 11.8 (53.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 5.8 (42.4) | 3.3 (37.9) | 4.0 (39.2) | 3.7 (38.7) | 7.2 (45.0) | 11.3 (52.3) | 12.8 (55.0) | 13.3 (55.9) | 3.3 (37.9) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 268.0 (10.55) | 226.3 (8.91) | 209.5 (8.25) | 32.3 (1.27) | 5.8 (0.23) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.2 (0.01) | 0.1 (0.00) | 17.3 (0.68) | 80.9 (3.19) | 248.3 (9.78) | 1,088.6 (42.86) |
Average relative humidity (%) | 80.7 | 81.5 | 78.8 | 72.1 | 64.4 | 59.8 | 55.9 | 48.9 | 42.7 | 45.2 | 56.6 | 75.4 | 63.5 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 158.1 | 148.4 | 201.5 | 234.0 | 266.6 | 258.0 | 260.4 | 275.9 | 276.0 | 269.7 | 216.0 | 167.4 | 2,732 |
Source: NOAA (humidity, sun 1961–1990) [19] [20] |
Transportation in Malawi is poorly developed. The country of almost 14 million has 39 airports, 6 with paved runways and 33 with unpaved runways. It has 797 kilometres of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved. Though it is landlocked, Malawi also has 700 km (435 mi) of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River.
This article is about the Transport in Zambia.
Lilongwe is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020 that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, in the district of the same name, near the borders with Mozambique and Zambia, and it is an important economic and transportation hub for central Malawi. It is named after the Lilongwe River.
Mchinji is a town and the capital of the Mchinji District in the Central Region of Malawi. Mchinji Boma, located 12 kilometres from the Zambian border and 109 km (68 mi) from the national capital, Lilongwe, is the major hub of government and general business. It has a major railroad junction, being the railhead nearest to Zambia. The area's economy is sustained by rain-fed agriculture.
The Central Region of Malawi, population 7,523,340 (2018), covers an area of 35,592 km2. Its capital city is Lilongwe, which is also the national capital. The region has an outlet on Lake Malawi and borders neighbouring countries Zambia and Mozambique. The Chewa people make up the majority of the population today.
Lilongwe is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. The capital is Lilongwe.
The Ngoni people are an ethnic group living in the present-day Southern African countries of Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The Ngoni trace their origins to the Nguni and Zulu people of kwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The displacement of the Nguni people in the great scattering following the Zulu wars had repercussions in social reorganization as far north as Malawi and Zambia.
Mpika is a town in the Muchinga Province of Zambia, lying at the junction of the M1 Road to Kasama and Mbala and the Tanzam Highway to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the north-east and Lusaka in the south-west. It also has a railway station on the TAZARA Railway about 5 kilometres (3 mi) away. Mpika is situated between the Muchinga Escarpment to the east and vast miombo plains to the west. The town has an estimated population of 40,000 inhabitants (2008), while the district population is estimated at 150,000 inhabitants. Since Mpika District was the biggest district in Zambia before its division in 2017, the population density was less than 4 people per square kilometre.
The Great East Road is a major road in Zambia and the main route linking its Eastern Province with the rest of the country. It is also the major link between Zambia and Malawi and between Zambia and northern Mozambique. However, the route does not carry as much traffic as many of the other regional arterial roads and between the main cities it serves, Lusaka and Chipata, it passes through rural and wilderness areas. In Lusaka the road forms the main arterial road for the eastern suburbs. The entire route from Lusaka to Chipata and the border with Malawi is designated the T4 road on Zambia's road network.
Petauke is a town and seat of Petauke District located in the Eastern Province of Zambia.
Eastern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces. The province lies between the Luangwa River and borders with Malawi to the east and Mozambique to the south, from Isoka in the northeast to the north of Luangwa in the south. The provincial capital is Chipata. Eastern province has an area of 51,476 km2 (19,875 sq mi), locally shares border with three other provinces of the country and is divided into fifteen districts.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zambia:
Zambia, officially known as the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in the southeast of the country. The population is concentrated mainly around the capital and the Copperbelt to the northwest.
Railway stations in Zambia include:
Malawi Railways is the national rail network in Malawi, run by a government corporation until privatisation in 1999. As of 1 December 1999 the Central East African Railways, a consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation, won the right to operate the network.
Chipata District is a district of Zambia, located in Eastern Province. The capital lies at Chipata. As of the 2010 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 455,783 people.
Mambwe District is a district of Zambia, located in Eastern Province. Mambwe District inhabits the Luangwa Valley between the 13th and 14th parallel of south latitude. The Kunda name for this area is "Malambo''.
Mwami is a town in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The town lies at the international border with Malawi, adjacent to the Malawian city of Mchinji.
The M12 road is a road in Malawi that spans 119 kilometers that traverses the country from east to west, connecting the capital city of Lilongwe to the Zambian border at Mchinji, providing a transportation artery between the two nations and facilitating the movement of people and goods across the region.